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Rebel Rabbit
Rebel Rabbit is a 1949 Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson. Plot Bugs notes that there are high bounties on various animals, such as $50 for a fox and $75 for a bear, and is highly offended by the two-cent bounty on rabbits. Bugs mails himself to Washington, DC. "Foist class, you know," he remarks to the postmaster. "I never travel with common bundles!" There, a supercilious game commissioner explains that the bounty is so low because, while foxes and bears are "obnoxious" animals who damage property, "rabbits are perfectly harmless," prompting Bugs to remark, "He don't know me very well, do he?" And when the game commissioner claims that the bounty for rabbits stays at two cents, Bugs vows to prove that "A rabbit can be more obnoxious than anybody!" and storms out, warning "You'll be hearing from me!" and slamming the official's door so hard that the glass in it shatters. Bugs begins his campaign by attacking a guard with his own billy club. From there, he pulls stunts like renaming Barney Baruch's private bench as "Bugs Bunny's", painting barbershop-pole stripes on the Washington Monument, rewiring the lights in Times Square to read "Bugs Bunny Wuz Here" (sic), shutting down Niagara Falls, selling the entire island of Manhattan back to Native Americans ("Dey wouldn't take it til I trew in a set of dishes!"), sawing Florida off from the rest of the country ("South America, take it away!"), swiping all the locks off the Panama Canal, filling in the Grand Canyon, and literally tying up railroad tracks. An angry Senator Claghorn-esque Congressman demands action against Bugs but is interrupted by Bugs himself, who emerges from the congressman's hat, annoys the congressman with the "hair dye" joke and gives him a mocking kiss. Live-action footage shows the entire United States Department of War mobilizing against Bugs. Sherman tanks come rumbling out of their garages, soldiers pour out of barracks, and bugles blow. Bugs, now satisfied with the $1 million bounty on his head, though not on rabbits in general, is snapped out of a Tarzan-esque mood by the whole Army coming after him. Bugs then dives into a fox hole as artillery shells surround the foxhole. Bugs then says, "Could it be that I carried this thing too far" just as the shells explode. On Alcatraz Island, Bugs is in a jail cell as he admits, "Ehhh, could be." Censorship * The Fox Network and WB Network airing of this cartoon cut the scene during the montage of Bugs destroying America where Bugs trades Manhattan back to the Native Americans and is shown walking through it wearing a feathered headband and smoking a peace pipe.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-q-r.aspx * Cartoon Network did air this cartoon uncut for a time until it aired with the scene where Bugs gives Manhattan back to the Indians cut, and the audio of the guns firing at Bugs after Bugs declares himself king of the beasts muted (which the latter edit is due to an audio error). Availability * LaserDisc - Bugs Bunny: Hare Beyond Compare: 14 More Bugs Bunny Classics * DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc One Notes * Financier and political consultant Bernard Baruch was famous for spending time on park benches in New York and Washington, an exceptionally obscure reference by today's standards. * Several barrels are revealed behind the waterfall when the water stops in reference to the fad stunt of going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. * City stock footage from "Lights Fantastic" (1942) is used when Bugs rewires Times Square. References External Links Rebel Rabbit at SuperCartoons.net Rebel Rabbit at B99.TV also see the List of Bugs Bunny cartoons Category:Bugs Bunny Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:1949 Category:Looney Tunes Shorts Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson Category:Blue Ribbon reissues Category:Bugs Bunny Robert McKimson Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson Category:Cartoons animated by John Carey Category:Cartoons with layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Re-released cartoons whose original titles are known to exist